3, 2, 1
by Epona's Chosen
Summary: Bonnie is alone on New Year's Eve. A time for new beginnings. What will happen when Damon comes along to see her?


**Hello! This is a now rather out of season one-shot but I found it in the depths of my computer and thought, why not? Enjoy...**

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><p>3... 2... 1<p>

Bonnie was staring up at the clock. Twenty minutes to midnight._ Where was everyone?_ Oh yeah, they'd all gone to Mystic Falls to the New Year's Eve party. She'd hoped that Elena, Meredith, Stefan, Alaric, Matt and her could've had our own party but nobody told her that they'd all bought tickets and had gone, leaving her to celebrate alone. Rationally, she knew she wasn't the only one alone tonight. Bonnie knew for a fact that Damon was by himself – as he'd left pretty quickly after Elena chose Stefan - Stefan proposed to Elena, and naturally she'd said yes.

Of course, he could have some _company_ but Bonnie was pretty certain that she wouldn't care about Damon that much.

She sat down the bench and observed the silence that surrounded her. It wasn't pitch black, there was a slither of a waxing moon in the sky and over a million little pin-pricks of light shining down, along with the yellow glow of the tall clock.

She wrapped her coat around her as the breeze picked up slightly and buried her hands in the pockets of her hoodie to try and keep them warm. The ground was white with a thin layer of frost that was just icy enough for Bonnie to be able to slip but so far she'd kept her balance.

Bonnie glanced up at the clock again, fifteen minutes to the brand New Year. The possibilities were endless but she had a feeling my options would be narrowed down the _saving the world_ or _letting evil destroy the world_ and she knew she would pick the former. Bonnie sighed and her breath came out as a puff of steam.

The world may look beautiful right now but she was lonely. It wasn't that Bonnie didn't have friends as such, but because she didn't have anyone special to share the last few minutes of this year with. Stefan had Elena, Meredith had Alaric and Matt had a girlfriend called Melanie or something. Bonnie had no-one. No-one to hold, to kiss, to touch and to love. Was it that much to ask for? Apparently, for someone who was described as "cute" as in "five-year-old cute", it was a lot to ask for. _Now I'm thinking depressing thoughts_,_ I really shouldn't do that, I was meant to be happy_, Bonnie chided herself. She wanted to be happy at the beginning of a New Year but the feeling of loneliness and abandonment was pretty much overwhelming.

Her mind wandered to the others, her _friends_. She wondered if they'd thought of me once. Probably not, they hardly noticed if she was there or not most days. Hell, she'd had more attention off Damon before he'd left than she was now getting of the others. Maybe it was because they'd had no real evil, apart from the vampire colony that had attacked. She killed five of them and she didn't given get a "well done" or "good work".

Bonnie didn't know why she didn't just leave. Actually... she did. She had a tiny, tiny shred of hope left that Damon would return, or some supernatural creature that would attack, just so they'd notice her existence. Of course, then, she would _disappear_ and kill the thing herself, just to show them that she wasn't a kid, she wasn't disabled and was able to handle looking after herself. Well, Bonnie was looking after herself now.

Bonnie looked up at the clock. It was getting closer. The streets were quiet and evil free as far as she could sense. She had a small stake in her pocket just in case, because you can never be sure. She exhaled sharply when another presence lingered of the edge of her consciousness, it kept flickering and disappearing before appearing again faintly. Her hand tightened on the stake when she heard footsteps behind her with the stealth of a vampire. At the last second, she spun round, slamming the stake forward. The vampire leapt back from the pointed tip, startled.

"Jesus, Bonnie," a familiar voice said and Bonnie looked up, and then stared in surprise.

"Damon?" She asked, a high-pitched shriek and Damon nodded.

"Obviously, now can you please move that stake away from me," he said.

Bonnie put the stake back in her pocket. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, I heard you were all alone and thought I would join you but if you are going to try and stake me..." he muttered, not angrily but slightly grouchily.

"You shouldn't have snuck up on me, you could have been about to attack me," Bonnie replied, her temper sparking slightly and her cheeks flushing from it.

"Okay, I know I've been away for a while but you must have recognised my power," Damon replied, smiling slightly at her reddening cheeks.

"You were blocking, and I had shields up," she accused. "All I sensed was vampire," she added.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be carrying a stake," he said. "And where are the others?" He demanded and Bonnie raised her eyebrows slightly at the tone.

"A party in Mystic Falls," she told him and sat back down on the bench. "It's just me here," she added, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Damon sat next to her. "They left you here?" He asked the surprise evident in his tone. "I thought you were the helpless one who needed constant protection?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Well, yeah, I thought so too, but I'm here alone and they pretty much ignore me – unless it's a witch thing," she said with a faint sigh.

Damon sat next to her. "Well, judging by the speed you almost put that stake through me, I'd say you definitely weren't helpless," he said and Bonnie looked at him.

"Which means I'm fine to be left alone – are you going to chase after Elena now?" She asked and Damon looked slightly hurt.

"Why would I go after Elena – where the rest of that gang are, when you're sitting here all alone?" He asked and Bonnie shrugged.

"Because it's the earth-bound angel, the one you love more than anything and are constantly scheming to get away from Stefan." She said, with a hint of a _duh_ tone.

"I don't love Elena," Damon said quietly. "I got over her a long time ago," he whispered afterwards.

Bonnie looked at him, stunned. "Then why tell her you do...?" She trailed off, "to annoy Stefan," she answered her question herself and looked at him sideways. Her red hair bright in the darkness and it fell in soft curls around her face.

"That's true, but there was something else too," Damon said calmly, watching her intently.

"And that is?" Bonnie asked expectantly.

"To find out if a certain maiden was jealous," he whispered in her ear and she jerked away startled.

"What?" She said an innocent, blank expression on her face and Damon chuckled.

"You aren't all that good at hiding your emotions, every time I looked at Elena there was a part of you that hated her," he said and Bonnie felt herself blush. She always liked to have Damon's attention like Elena did, but it was something she'd never achieve.

"Well, Elena gets any guy she wants, and I don't believe that it's fair," Bonnie said, trying to recover.

"Not any guy," Damon said. "I don't want her."

Bonnie frowned. "You don't give that impression," she told him.

"Do you want to know who I've always wanted since I first laid eyes on them?" Damon asked in a serious tone.

Bonnie wanted to know, but she didn't want to at the same time. "Who?" She asked, he would tell her anyway.

"A beautiful maiden with flaming red hair and doe brown eyes that hold so much emotion and light that sees into my very soul, the one who has seen me at my most vulnerable and always been close to my heart. You, Bonnie McCullough, I've always wanted you." He said and Bonnie's breath hitched.

"Damon..." she murmured. "Do you really mean that?" She said, turning to look at him properly.

Damon caressed her cheek with his hand. "I wouldn't lie to you," he whispered and she could see the truth in his eyes.

"I believe you," Bonnie said, placing her hand over his, and then dropping them to her lap as she entwined their fingers.

"Bonnie, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on and I can't believe I'm about to say this but..." he started. "I love you, I always had a feeling I did and then when you saw me without all my shields, I knew and was very surprised you didn't see it," he finished and Bonnie felt tears in her eyes.

"Damon, ever since you left... I've been abandoned by everyone – only you seemed to see me and to hear you tell me that you loved me... well, you can hear my heart," she said, her heart was beating rapidly and reached out for him and wound her arms around his neck.

Damon lifted her onto his lap and placed his hands on her waist. "How could I not see you? You're a burning beacon of light," he murmured.

Bonnie felt her heart practically explode in her chest and she looked into his eyes. "Damon, I love you too," she said.

Damon stared, stunned but incredibly happy at the same time. "You do?" He said, happily.

"Yes, you moron, I've loved you for ages," she replied.

The clock struck twelve and began to chime loudly. Bonnie looked up at it, Damon followed her gaze.

"A time of new beginnings," Damon murmured.

"The beginning of us," Bonnie added without a thought and Damon smiled.

Nine chimes past. "3... 2... 1," Damon said and on the last chime, leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Bonnie responded with a passion, turns out this was the beginning of the rest of her life – with Damon.

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><p><strong>So... please review and tell me what you think!<strong>


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